any tips for when flying over water with M3Pro

[Lilith5th]

hi,
I m interested in flying over water, and before I do that, are there any tips?
Does putting the drone in sport mode make it less likely to autoland in sea?
Or is the only rule of thumb "keep it above 10 meters"?

 

[Meta4]

I m interested in flying over water, and before I do that, are there any tips?

There's nothing special about flying over water.
Fly just as you would over land.

Does putting the drone in sport mode make it less likely to autoland in sea?

Your drone isn't likely to autoland in the sea, whether you are in Sport Mode or not..

 

[PanoVolo]

If you are flying low over moving water (rivers) expect the drone to start drifting with water flow.

If water surface is very still the drone can start spontaneously descent.

TL DR be careful when flying very low over water. 20+ m is usually safe.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Flying along and over high surf can be fun and merely requires awareness that the waves are higher than sea level, and that salt spray and wind can wreak havoc with the drone, so use your tele lenses or modest digital zoom, and don't fly too low.

 

[Lilith5th]

Ive seen a lot of videos where drones autoland in water. is there a way to disable autoland feature, or interrupt it if it starts.

 

[KAOS Imagery]

I've flown my Mavic 3 over lots of bays and lakes with no issues. I always come back over land sooner than I might if I was just over land just to be on the safe side. And as mentioned above, I don't fly very low - 25' or more is a good rule of thumb. Also pay attention to wind direction and velocity and plan accordingly so you aren't fighting it on the way back with a low battery.

There is a member on this forum that sells floats, you can supposedly land on water with them. I don't own one so I can't vouch for how good it works, but might be worth a look at to see if it's worth it for extra piece of mind.

 

[slup]

Ive seen a lot of videos where drones autoland in water. is there a way to disable autoland feature, or interrupt it if it starts.

It's a lot of reasons that a drone auto lands & if it can be cancelled or not, below some reasons for a auto landing that comes to my mind...

-running the battery really low will trigger a low battery auto land (can be delayed by keeping a constant ascend command with the stick)

-running the battery totally empty will end with a forced low voltage auto landing to prevent the drone starting a free fall as a rock (can't be stopped)

-activate a RTH will end with a auto landing (can be stopped)

-taking off without a GPS lock, inside a no fly zone... generates a auto landing later once a proper GPS position is established (can't be stopped)

-have something below your drone within 0,5m & holding the descend stick for approx 3sec (can be stopped)

-flying in ATTI mode & losing the RC connection generates a auto landing (can't be stopped)

None of above reasons gets more likely just because you fly over water... it's just that the consequence of a landing over water is much more unforgiving & is better to publish on YT as a click bait. Not any fun to look at a ordinary RTH landing over dry land is it?

 

[Cafguy]

Its no big deal BUT yes You should exercise caution when flying around and over Water . The two major problems have been stated above.
1. Salt water spray will DESTROY your drone keep your height above the spray. if your drone gets salt water spray on it you will need to take it apart and give it a clean bath.
2. It is known (one only needs to google it) That sunlight reflections from the water can cause problems with the sensors. This can happen on very bright days or during the hours of sunrise or sunset. It doesn't happen that much but yes it can. You simply need to keep that in mind while flying and be prepared for any strange movements the Drone makes.
Most Drone users flying over water will never see this happen. I fly over water at times and I have never had an issue.